Strike it Rich Adventures offers the following tours at Hangtown's historic Gold Bug Park:
Gold Bug Mine Tour You will learn about hard rock mining while traveling 350 feet into a historic underground mine that was worked from the 1880’s until the 1940’s. Your guide dresses in period costume and talks about quartz veins, the geology and faulting of the area, and how the gold ore was processed. Hands on activities in the mine include pushing an authentic ore cart, learning the “single jacking” and “double jacking” hand drilling techniques, and experiencing what it was like for the miners to work by candlelight. This mine tour is wheelchair accessible. 30 minute tour
Priest Mine Tour Go back 150 years in history and travel 150 feet into an original 1850’s era hard rock mine with your guide dressed in 49er garb. You’ll hear about the “legend of the priest”, and see beautiful arches and the actual pick marks made by the miners who dug the mine by hand in the era before dynamite. You’ll see how the miners followed quartz veins, used timbers for supports and created air shafts as they got deeper into the mountain. The Priest Mine is not generally available to the public, and is not wheelchair accessible. 30 minute tour
Gold Panning Lesson Everyone has fun learning about the history of placer mining in the rivers and streams of the gold rush country while panning for gold at the troughs. With hands-on instructions, you’ll learn how to effectively use a gold pan and find real gold and other valuable gemstones to take home with you. 30 minute lesson
Stamp Mill Tour The historic stamp mill tour will give you the final piece of the puzzle – What happened to all the gold that was found in the hard rock mines? You’ll learn how the gold ore was processed using very loud and dangerous equipment. Find out what happened between the mine and the final pouring of the gold bars. On the stamp mill tour you’ll also hear stories from days gone by about mining camp life and some of the colorful characters who lived in “Old Hangtown”. 30 minute tour
